Monday, 21 April 2014

When secularists start running leper colonies we should take their attack on Cameron seriously

An assortment of ‘liberal’ journalists, scientists and
celebrities have today accused
David Cameron of risking causing
‘alienation’ in society by saying Britain is a ‘Christian country’.

The 50 signatories
toa letter to the Daily Telegraph say
that Britain is largely a ‘non-religious society’ and warn about the ‘negative
consequences for politics and society’ that the Prime Minister’s comments
engender.

Interestingly, other faith leaders have defended Cameron. Farooq
Murad, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, has spoken of the UK’s ‘deep historical
and structural links’ to Christianity and Anil Bhanot, managing director of the
Hindu Council UK, said he is
‘very comfortable’ with the PM’s description. Ironically, the Muslims and
Hindus appear more tolerant than the ‘liberals’.

On one level the 50 correspondents are correct. The
overwhelming majority of people in this country do not hold to core historic
teachings of the Christian faith such as those we celebrate at Easter - Jesus’ divinity,
incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and return in judgement.
Biblical teaching on ethics is also increasingly falling out of favour at a
practical level – witness Britain’s family breakdown, spiralling rates of
abortions and sexually transmitted diseases, epidemics of alcohol misuse,
gambling, debt and obsession with celebrity culture, personal peace and
material things.

In fact David Cameron has himself described his faith as
fading and reappearing ‘like Magic FM in the Chilterns’. His support of same sex marriage, his
weakness on opposing abortion and defending Christian conscience along with his
glaring omission of any reference to Christ’s death and resurrection in his Easter
address make it highly likely that Jesus and his apostles would not have
recognised the PM’s faith as orthodox. He may profess Christianity, but as I
have previously
argued, actually fails Luther’s test of confession.

But at another level the prime minister is quite correct
about Britain being ‘Christian’. After all, 59%
of Britons still self-identify as Christians according to the 2011 ONS
survey. And there is no doubt that Christian influence on British society has
been immense.

In his speech
on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, Cameron said that
the Bible had ‘bequeathed a body of
language that permeates every aspect of our culture and heritage… from everyday
phrases to our greatest works of literature, music and art’.

Our politics too, he said, owed to Christianity everything from ‘human rights
and equality to our constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy’ and ‘from
the role of the church in the first forms of welfare provision, to the many
modern day faith-led social action projects’. Not only did it place the 'first
limits on Royal Power’ but, even more significantly, ‘the knowledge that God
created man in his own image was… a game changer for the cause of human dignity
and equality’.

Cameron correctly echoed Margaret Thatcher who once said, ‘we are a
nation whose ideals are founded on the Bible’ and illustrated this with a list
of foundational Christian values including ‘responsibility, hard work, charity,
compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, love…pride in working for the common good
and honouring the social obligations we have to one another, to our families
and our communities…’

All of which raises the question why these 50 atheists and
secular humanists are so incensed by the Prime Minister’s references to the Christian
faith. Is there a deeper issue here?

Telegraph blogger Toby Young has rather provocatively
suggested that ‘the liberal metropolitan elite’ despise Christianity
because it poses a challenge to their moral authority. These people constitute
‘a secular priesthood’ , he argues, who see ‘anything that suggests there might
be a higher source of authority than them when it comes to matters of right and
wrong’ as ‘a direct challenge to their status’.
What greater threat to our moral status than the ‘God-man’ Jesus Christ
who asserted that he was both our Saviour and Judge?

But is there, perhaps, also a hint of jealousy? Malcolm
Muggeridge (1903-1990), the late journalist and author was a secular humanist
for most of his life (before a late Christian conversion), but, like the PM, was
honest about Christianity’s social impact. He said, ‘I’ve spent a number of
years in India and Africa where I found much righteous endeavour undertaken by
Christians of all denominations; but I never, as it happens, came across a hospital
or orphanage run by the Fabian Society, or a humanist leper colony’.

Come to think of it, the secularists haven’t actually been
at the forefront of the sort of community-led initiatives the PM has been
praising either – where are the secularist food banks, night shelters, street
pastors, debt-counsellors and drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres?

So my challenge to the 50 secularists is this – bleat as
much as you like, but if you really want to be taken as seriously as Christ
himself as a life-changing and community-transforming force, then please demonstrate
to us how secularism can transform societies and communities for good? Where is
the historical legacy? Where is the evidence that secularism is a positive society-transforming power?

After all, actions speak louder than words. And Jesus said
that the real test of a tree was its fruit.

'What greater threat to our moral status than the ‘God-man’ Jesus Christ who asserted that he was both our Saviour and Judge?'

There we have the problem of the political elites since time immemorial.

The political elites, once they assume power, believe as if (in the Hegelian sense) the State is the moral Absolute. That is, political power alone decides what is right and wrong: the legal and fiction of homosexual 'marraige' (for example).

Every time a political leader and his caste have faced Jesus and the Judaeo-Christians it has been one unmitigated disaster after another.

Of course secularism is transforming communities for good. Without presenting an extensive list, Oxfam, The British Red Cross, MSF, UNICEF, are just the first secular charities that spring to mind. That is not to say they do not have people of faith working for them, however religious conviction is not a driving force behind any of these organisations.

Henry Dunant and Gustave Moynier, co-founders of the International Red Cross Movement, were Calvinists in their upbringing. Dunant, in his final years, became anti-religions and an athiest (source: wikipedia)

Are you kidding? No secular charities? Just about every single charity out there- I would argue that the Christian charities are the minority? Since when were cancer research or the teenage cancer trust or the british heart foundation religious charities? I am proud to be British and will accept that historically it is a Christian country but to say that now is to offend all of us that are not Christian. Our faith or lack of, is not what makes us British. Also the qualities listed "responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, love…pride in working for the common good and honouring the social obligations we have to one another, to our families and our communities…" are certainly not exclusively Christian, funnily enough people can decide ALL BY THEMSELVES that they are going to be a good person.

Regarding the AHA's "great" work in Haiti - they raised 50.000 dollars and made a big song and dance about that. This does not even start to compare with the funds raised by Christian and Jewish charities for purposes relating to Haiti and earthquake - many with donations in the range of many million dollars. See here:

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Kiwi, Christian and Medical

This blog deals mainly with matters at the interface of Christianity and Medicine. But I do also diverge into other subjects - especially New Zealand, rugby, economics, developing world, politics and topics of general Christian and/or medical interest. The opinions expressed here are mine and may not necessarily reflect the views of my employer or anyone else associated with me.

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I am CEO of Christian Medical Fellowship, a UK-based organisation with 4,500 UK doctors and 1,000 medical students as members. The opinions expressed here however are mine, and may not necessarily reflect the views of CMF or anyone else associated with me.